The present invention relates to a process and device for determining an optimal flight path of an aircraft.
Although not exclusively, the present invention applies more particularly to an aircraft, in particular a civil transport airplane, fitted with a flight management computer.
It is known that, generally, one of the main objectives of such a flight management computer is to optimize the cost of the flight.
It will be noted that within the context of the present invention, said cost is defined on the basis of a flight criterion specified below which takes into account for example the fuel consumed and/or the duration of the flight. This optimization of the flight can of course relate to all the phases of the flight, for example takeoff, climb, cruising flight, descent, landing, etc. However, since out of all the possible phases of flight, the phase of cruising flight (or cruising phase) is generally the longest, the most significant savings liable to be made relate to this latter phase. It is for this reason that the present invention is concerned exclusively with said cruising phase.